Society The World's Happiest & Healthiest Cities

[Maciamo]

The World's Happiest Cities​

This chart comes from the Happy City Index. Based on 64 indicators across six dimensions, the Index highlights cities that combine quality of life, sustainability and long-term development strategies. It covers 251 cities in developed countries.

In the world happiness ranking Japan does not do well at all, so it is surprising to find Tokyo as the world's fifth happiest city. Neighboring Yokohama ranks 18th, but after that the space widens: Nagoya 52nd, Sapporo 96th, Kyoto 113th, Hiroshima 125th, Sendai 143rd, Kumamoto 185th...

It's also noteworthy that only one American city (San Francisco, 45th) and one Canadian city (Vancouver, 39th) make the top 50. Canadian cities often make the top 10 of the most livable cities, but that doesn't mean they are the happiest. Only two other Canadian cities are in the top 100, Calgary (74th) and Quebec (98th). No other American cities are in the top 100. New York is only 207th, Chicago 243rd, while cities like LA, Seattle, Washington DC and Miami are not in the top 250.

Australian cities are also generally considered among the most livable in the world, yet only two small cities, Ballarat and Maitland (both around 100,000 inhabitants), make the top 50. After that we find Adelaide, 71st, Melbourne 108th, while Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane and Perth are not in the top 250.

North and Central European cities dominated at top 50. Even Polish cities do quite well (six cities in the top 100, including Warsaw, 32nd). But some Southern European cities are also ranked high like Barcelona (12th), Zaragoza (64th), Bordeaux (70th), Bologna (73rd), Bilbao (76th), Parma (77th), Milan (80th), Valencia (88th), Toulouse (99th). All of them are ranked higher than most major Australian and Canadian cities.

The World's Healthiest Cities​

The same organization also developed a Healthy City Index with its first edition published in 2026. The index highlights cities that create supportive conditions for physical health, mental well-being, social inclusion and access to services that matter in daily life. Rather than celebrating a single “best” city, the Index identifies places that combine strong public policy, good urban conditions and a long-term commitment to residents’ well-being.

Rank	City	Country	Total Points
1	Oslo	Norway	6919
2	Uppsala	Sweden	6856
3	Helsinki	Finland	6850
4	Västerås	Sweden	6567
5	Tokyo	Japan	6559
6	Grenoble	France	6546
7	Trondheim	Norway	6513
8	Malmö	Sweden	6510
9	Espoo	Finland	6505
10	Cambridge	United Kingdom	6489
11	Klagenfurt am Wörthersee	Austria	6481
12	Yokohama	Japan	6467
13	Funabashi	Japan	6454
14	Copenhagen	Denmark	6448
15	Paris	France	6423
16	Munich	Germany	6397
17	Bern	Switzerland	6368
18	Jönköping	Sweden	6365
19	Geneva	Switzerland	6351
20	Reykjavik	Iceland	6347
21	Nancy	France	6334
22	Lugano	Switzerland	6333
23	Barcelona	Spain	6331
24	Aarhus	Denmark	6322
25	Amsterdam	Netherlands	6310
26	Vancouver	Canada	6300
27	Stockholm	Sweden	6297
28	Bordeaux	France	6282
29	Winterthur	Switzerland	6272
30	Maastricht	Netherlands	6256
31	Nagoya	Japan	6254
32	Bristol	United Kingdom	6249
33	London	United Kingdom	6245
34	Bilbao	Spain	6238
35	Nijmegen	Netherlands	6237
36	Berlin	Germany	6231
37	Ljubljana	Slovenia	6222
38	Hachioji	Japan	6211
39	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	6193
40	Adelaide	Australia	6180
41	Zaragoza	Spain	6157
42	Gothenburg	Sweden	6152
43	Turku	Finland	6147
44	Strasbourg	France	6142
45	Leiden	Netherlands	6142
46	Zurich	Switzerland	6142
47	Seoul	South Korea	6138
48	Stavanger	Norway	6133
49	Lucerne	Switzerland	6126
50	Drammen	Norway	6125
51	Augsburg	Germany	6119
52	Zoetermeer	Netherlands	6087
53	Bergen	Norway	6086
54	Sopot	Poland	6085
55	Norrköping	Sweden	6066
56	Toulouse	France	6062
57	Odense	Denmark	6050
58	Aachen	Germany	6048
59	Innsbruck	Austria	6043
60	Lubeck	Germany	6020
61	Parma	Italy	6019
62	Ghent	Belgium	6019
63	Kyoto	Japan	6008
64	Le Mans	France	6003
65	Vienna	Austria	6003
66	Eindhoven	Netherlands	6003
67	Warsaw	Poland	5998
68	Okayama	Japan	5997
69	Bologna	Italy	5987
70	Auckland	New Zealand	5983
71	Prague	Czechia	5970
72	Groningen	Netherlands	5969
73	Sapporo	Japan	5968
74	Bremen	Germany	5968
75	Hamburg	Germany	5967
76	Aalborg	Denmark	5943
77	Essen	Germany	5942
78	Kumamoto	Japan	5914
79	Delft	Netherlands	5909
80	Ballarat	Australia	5906
81	Valencia	Spain	5903
82	Tallinn	Estonia	5892
83	Roskilde	Denmark	5886
84	Dordrecht	Netherlands	5881
85	Sendai	Japan	5877
86	Calgary	Canada	5865
87	Jyväskylä	Finland	5865
88	Montreal	Canada	5844
89	Hiroshima	Japan	5838
90	Wrocław	Poland	5827
91	Brussels	Belgium	5825
92	Frankfurt am Main	Germany	5821
93	Bruges	Belgium	5819
94	Antwerp	Belgium	5811
95	Stuttgart	Germany	5807
96	Christchurch	New Zealand	5803
97	Southampton	United Kingdom	5799
98	Shizuoka	Japan	5790
99	Toronto	Canada	5789
100	Ottawa	Canada	5777

San Jose is the healthiest American city and ranks 101st, followed by San Francisco 133rd, Boston 193rd, San Diego 203rd, New York 209th, and Austin 213rd.

 

[HereToLearn]

Interesting. I wonder what income do you need to live a "happy" life in London, Singapore or San Francisco. Sure not the same as in Barcelona.